Mold growth requires moisture and food, and stone walls do not contain sufficient nutrients for mold growth. However, the thin layer of dust on the surface contains more than enough nutrients for mold to grow. To remove mold from inside walls, a four-step process is necessary: removing moldy drywall and other materials, killing mold, encapsulating remaining mold, and rebuilding part or all of the wall with new drywall.
Mold can be a hidden enemy, lurking in unseen corners and posing significant health risks and structural damage. To permanently remove mold, residents should know where it hides and how to get rid of it. Stone walls are poor insulators, so they can become quite cold, especially during winter months. This coldness can cause moisture to condense on the walls, triggering mold growth.
There are many humidity-causing conditions that can facilitate mold growth, including poor construction detailing, lack of proper drainage, and poor construction detailing. Mold is a common issue in American houses, but not so much in most of Europe. Mold is a sign of moist not being properly maintained.
Anti-mould solutions can be applied before painting, but mold will only grow where there is damp. For example, an anti-mould solution can be applied before painting, but mold will only grow where there is damp. Thick masonry walls tend to keep out heat in summer and retain it in winter by slowing down heat transfer.
In summary, mold growth on stone walls requires moisture and food, and removing mold is a four-step process that involves removing moldy drywall, killing mold, encapsulating remaining mold, and rebuilding the wall with new drywall.
📹 Mold and Rot on a BRAND NEW HOUSE – What went wrong?
HouseWrap… more like HouseCrap! This brand new house has some rot & mold issues and it’s never been lived in. My company …
Do stone walls get damp?
Old stone and cob buildings are susceptible to dampness due to inadequate damp proof courses and inappropriate paints. To manage dampness, maintain a low air flow through the building, allowing damp air to exit through trickle vents, positive pressure ventilation systems, or leaving windows open. Air flow is the cheapest and easiest method, but other areas must also be addressed to properly dry a building out.
How do you prevent mold on stone?
Staining is a significant issue caused by growth spores, such as mold, algae, and fungi, which can cause damage to natural stone surfaces. These spores form when moisture and humidity mix, leading to unsightly stains. To prevent these unhealthy growths, sealing your natural stone is recommended. Texas Stone Sealers can help clean stone surfaces and remove unsightly spores before sealing. They use an advanced proprietary sealant called cross-linking technology (CLT) to last longer, improve the appearance of stone, and prevent growth spores from developing. These sealants can be applied to concrete, patios, brick, driveways, and more.
Homeowners interested in cleaning and sealing services should contact Texas Stone Sealers at 429-0469. Their skilled team can make your natural stone look better than ever, from pool coping to concrete driveways. They also provide more information about cross-linking technology on their website.
How to get rid of mould on stone walls?
To clean mold from natural stone showers, use baking soda/baking powder and water solution. Apply a paste, let it sit for 30 minutes, then scrub with a brush. Rinse with water and dry the area. If stubborn stains remain, mix hydrogen peroxide with water and apply liberally. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes before scrubbing. Rinse thoroughly and dry the area.
Mildew is caused by excess moisture in the air, so keep your shower well ventilated by using exhaust fans and running hot showers at least five minutes before entering. Use a professional cleaner specifically designed for natural stone, such as MB-9 Mold and Mildew Remover. Spray it on, let it sit for a few minutes, and wipe it away. This will help keep your shower clean and free of mold.
Are stone houses good or bad?
Stone house siding is a durable and cost-effective option for homeowners looking to protect their homes from weather damage. It is naturally resistant to wind and rain, and doesn’t rot or absorb water, making it look fresh and clean even in heavy rain. Stone comes in various grades, allowing homeowners to choose full-grade stone or lower quality material if they’re on a tighter budget. Additionally, stone house siding is an excellent insulator, keeping the home warm in winter and cool in summer, saving on energy bills.
Can mold grow on stone walls?
Mold can easily develop on natural stone, especially in outdoor environments like patios, due to moisture, dirt, and porous surfaces. Ancient builders, such as Tuscan stonemasons, used to scrub Carrara marble blocks to remove fungal colonies, turning the surface black. Even if natural stone is more porous, mold and mildew will eventually develop if the surface isn’t treated adequately. Staining is the first sign of microbial deterioration, which is undesirable on natural-stone surfaces. To get rid of mold on natural stone, follow these four tips:
Clean often: Dirt, natural debris, and ambient moisture are all necessary for mold to grow on any surface. Regular cleaning with a cleaner specifically formulated for natural-stone care, such as Granite Gold Outdoor Stone Cleaner ®, is the best way to prevent mold buildup.
Seal frequently: Natural stone installed outdoors should be frequently sealed to prevent critical mold infestations. Mildew can still develop into surface mold on sealed stone, but it can be easily wiped away.
What are the disadvantages of stone houses?
Stone is a popular choice for construction due to its specialized installation process, higher labour costs, and higher cost compared to brick. It is also more susceptible to winter damage unless proper measures are taken, depending on the climate. Additionally, stone is not as eco-friendly as other materials, as it requires quarried materials, making it a less sustainable choice. Therefore, it is essential to consider the pros and cons before deciding on stone for your home.
How to stop damp in a stone house?
The Dryzone system is a damp proofing cream used to control rising dampness in historic buildings. It is introduced at intervals into pre-drilled holes in the mortar course, allowing the solution to diffuse into the wall fabric, lining masonry capillaries and reducing moisture rise. To preserve the integrity of the building’s fabric and finishes, sympathetic repairs are recommended. A flexible polypropylene membrane, fixed at intervals with plugs, provides a barrier between the old surface and the new finish, creating a void for water to evaporate. Plaster can be applied over the meshed membrane base, or walls can be dry-lined. This technology is also suitable for plinths below the soleplates of timber frame buildings.
Do stone houses get mould?
Living in old, cold houses with solid stone walls can lead to mouldy interior walls, especially in winter when cold spots are harder to avoid. Some people enjoy living in these areas by using weak bleach washes or mold-proof paint. This was prompted by the discovery of a mould-covered leather jacket in a little-used wardrobe built on an external stone wall. The wardrobe needs venting and a rethinking of its usage and storage. Other areas in the house are also prone to mould, such as the wardrobe’s built-in wardrobe and other areas that require a rethinking of storage and ventilation.
What is the life expectancy of a stone house?
Stone homes can last up to 100 years, but improper maintenance can prematurely reduce their structural integrity. Unsealed stone and deteriorating mortar can allow water to enter or seep behind the stone, leading to cracking or shifting positions. If left unchecked, this can cause the stone to fall out of the wall. To maintain the structural integrity of stone homes, use a mild detergent to clean masonry at least once a year, remove climbing plants and moisture-retaining mosses from exterior stone walls, and unclog weep holes and repair damaged mortar regularly.
What are the disadvantages of stone walls?
Masonry is a popular construction technique worldwide due to its advantages, such as uniform shape and size of units, lightweight construction, ease of handling and transport, and lower costs compared to stones and concrete blocks. However, it has its drawbacks, such as thick and heavy walls, high self-weight, low flexural strength, tensile strength, and seismic resistance. Stone masonry is time-consuming and requires skilled workers, making it difficult to alter, repair, or relocate.
On the other hand, brick masonry is a more cost-effective and efficient method, as it is uniform in shape and size, lightweight, easy to handle and transport, and can be adhered with different types of mortar depending on structural requirements. This method also allows for easier openings for doors and windows, reducing costs.
Can you clean mold off of stone?
To safely clean a stone shower, start by watering it down with a one-to-one mixture of bleach and water. Spray the affected area, scrub it with a gentle brush, and wipe it clean. Bleach is often better than using stone cleaner as it kills spores and prevents mold resurgence.
To prevent mold growth, follow these maintenance tips every week. Keep a squeegee handy after every shower to minimize persistent moisture and help the stone dry completely between uses. This prevents water buildup and stymies the growth of mold, mildew, or other harmful living organisms. By following these tips, you can effectively clean your stone shower and prevent mold from growing in, on, or around your stone.
📹 How to Kill Mold With Vinegar
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Matt, all stone facades need a rainscreen, but to act as a thermal break. Stone being a reservoir cladding, it has a significant cold mass that draws warm moist energy from the interior into that wall cavity. (Reminder to your viewers: heat as an energy moves from hot to cold. Stone acts as a giant heat sync)
O.K. I fix this stuff all the time. As a matter of fact that’s all I’ve been doing for that last 12 years with only one new build in that time. Here’s what I’ve found: building materials and construction practices for the most part are poor. On the re-models of older homes I’ve found much less rot with the exception of window sills and siding that is too close to the ground. With felt paper under the siding I never see sheathing rot–not once. The biggest issue I’ve found with older homes is some sketchy framing practices but those houses can and do breathe. Home construction now is all about fast assembly and avoiding craftsmanship at the expense of longevity and avoiding problems. Whose fault is it? The homeowners, who want instant gratification and the appearance of grandeur. And construction companies are more than happy to provide a lovely looking building built on the cheap. Cynical? You’re damn right and with good reason.
If it wasn’t for this website and the extensive articles on house wrap and waterproofing the openings I would have opted for that garbage tarp style wrap. I’m a week out on sheathing the walls and I will be using prosoco r guard fast flash for my window and door openings along with a premium house wrap. My only complaint about this website is that I still can’t buy one of those BUILD hats.
How about telling the client to build a smaller house to save the money? My personal feeling is that if your budget can’t afford real plywood for the sheathing then it’s too big. OSB mansions are throw away dwellings. I can’t see someone in 200 years putting any money into those buildings to save them. Wrapping it in asphalt goop may get you to 20 years without problems but a 100? I realize it’s a wood house but wrapping the whole thing in asphalt or synthetic rubber seems like a really bad idea form a fire prevention aspect. Sorry don’t mean to be all negative. I appreciate the demo of the house wrap. I didn’t realize the basic stuff performed so bad.
Over the 100 year lifespan of a home on average every single window, door, and roof penetration is going to leak. This means the fireplace chimney, the bathroom vents, each window, each door, each skylight, each dormer, each change of angle in the roof, each corner or change of angle in an outside of a home, they are all problems waiting to happen. Now we don’t want to live in windowless boxes, so now it becomes a discussion in tradeoffs. By keeping a simple roofline, and adding large overhangs and large portions one can eliminate many of the problems. One of the easy ways to keep a window from leaking is to put a roof over it. One of the ways to keep a plumbing vent from leaking is to combine two or three vents in the attic and only going through the roof once. Smart design can eliminate half of the problems. It is the same with plumbing, every joint or pipe connection has the potential to leak and will at some point. By carefully designing a system, and putting it one one portion of the home, one can eliminate the potential for a large number of problems. There are lots of other factors one needs to consider, such as winter solar gain or air-conditioning needs, lighting needs in the home, privacy, security, noise, quality of life, and more. When building a new home investing time in looking at solar gain or loss, proper building of materials, and a flexible design that will appeal to everyone you may want to sell the home too can make a huge difference.
I think you should also call out the designer and architect of the house for “bad design” by not having enough overhang in the corner. There is a reason homes are designed with overhang. All roofs should have overhang on all sides. This is good house design. If there was proper overhang there would not have been a problem. To effectively solve problems we need to attack them with a multi-part plan. Having a good umbrella on a house is the first part of that defense. By having no overhang, there was no first line of defense. Now the second line of defense, the house wrap should have held up. Roofs are very important, and every roof is going to leak at some point, but there is a direct correlation between the number of pipes, skylights, chimneys, and architectural details and the number of leaks that happen. Basically, every single thing going through the roof is going to leak, at some point during the life of the home, and so the more you can eliminate, the more problems one can avoid. Years ago, there was a push to simplify and eliminate these roof penetrations and now home owners everywhere are benefiting from them. Now I understand, we do not want to live in ugly box like shaped houses, and most roof leaks can be fixed with a tube of roofing sealant in a few minutes. However, we also do not want drama of having to go up on the roof and constantly fix leaks. Finding the leak can be hard. The current style of big houses with fancy roofs, are going to be causing lots of problems in 20 years when they all start to leak.
I can’t remember exactly where I read it, but the best description I’ve read about this is something like that you have “hard costs” and flex costs. The “hard costs” are what you’ve described here, such as the waterproofing or subfloor as a couple examples, but it’s the structure type of things. The “flex costs” are like you described, the appliances, flooring, stuff like that. The statement was it’s better to cut costs from the “flex costs”, since if nothing else, you can go back later and upgrade them pretty easily. When it comes to the “hard costs”, it’s difficult at best, and may even be almost impossible to get to them to alter, at least without tearing apart the house to some degree.
I agree with the general point you are making, but I wonder if it’s reasonable to call the original housewrap “inferior” if all of the damage can be traced to installation errors. Would this stuff still be inferior if everything had been flashed correctly and the more violent fastenings had been sealed? Maybe it’s not the thing for extremely wet climates, and one only has to look at a shoddy building site to see non-adhered housewraps blowing in the wind, tearing on the few staples that are holding them on. And if you can’t trust your builder to get all that stuff right, it’s possible that a more foolproof system would offer some insurance, but there are so many ways to screw up housewrap and flashing that a bad builder is sure to find some of them, even with the perfect “system” at his disposal.
So what you put on the outside, especially with the metal coating, is very effective vapour barrier.You also put a vapor barrier on the inside of the wall, which will be 6 mill polyethelene, which has very low vapor prenetration. But the outside wall has no vapour penetration. So during winter months, moisture will VERY slowly build up in the wall, and it doesn’t have a good way to get out.
One source says moisture must migrate from inside to outside and visa versa. Another says their way is the best, air gaps, solid foam inside and/or outside. One article says don’t install plastic sheeting over studs on the inside, another says it keeps the interior of the wall dry, etc NOW I see you have completely wrapped a house in impermeable aluminum – what happened to the house needs to “breath”? Please give a straight answer – what kind of material, in or out, in each temperature zone?
14:25 “We should not allow our clients to dictate what to use on the outside of the house”. As a client that watches the Build Show, I feel that Matt’s advice has helped educate me and make a better choice for my sheathing. My builder will now be installing Zip-R on my home instead of standard OSB. He is excited to use a new product and I am excited to know I will have a higher quality home.
Matt, if you want to cry and then get really angry – you could take a look at how a large builder is constructing some apartment units near the Tesla Factory in Fremont, CA. They never dried it in around November ’18 before the heavy rains started. Now that spring is here, no problem just put on fragments of vapor barrier on the still soggy OSB then stucco directly over it!!! SMH… Even from the street, I can see that detail work is not the strong point of the exterior people, and one can see the twisting and warping of the walls.
Matt, really fantastic series! Always practical… You may want to mention in your next one like this that these wraps are allowing some leaking at Day 1, so after a few years of thermal expansion and contraction, the holes and penetrations at nails/staples/caps will completely open up. We see a lot of damage to homes from these types of issues and improper or inadequate flashing! We love your stuff – keep up the great work!
I was a home improvement carpenter for 15 years. I did major renovation work on many a building. I noticed over the years that houses that had adequate overhangs all the way around the building rarely if ever had water damage issues. Architects design modern style homes with limited to no overhangs and then try all kinds of water sealing products to prevent the resulting water damage. These products in my opinion never work as well as an overhang would. They do have their place such as behind stone facades. however, you eliminate overhangs and you’re looking for trouble. It all comes down to this. Do you want a house that’s durable or not?
Bunch of liers. Nasty lies What ?? 7:23 look at the cap, looks like yellow stain tooooo? Also on the bottom of the white paper looks yellow stain. BUT 8:03 THE BOTTOM OF THE PAPER IS NOT MUCH YELLOW AND NO STAIN IN THE CAP PLACE. YOU REALLY TRUST THIS GUYS? Will waste time if i wanted to see their articles. Can you see it?
Great article! Nice to see you use german products (delta foils). But what I do not understand – how can one build such a huge house and then choose to construct it with what seems to be rather flimsy “tooth-pick-sized” wood pieces with osb board attached to it?! For my garden-shed – ok, sure! But for the house I am living in, i would rather have Aircrete like Ytong, Poroton or something similar or solid limestone as the inner shell – then some 7-8 inches of rockwool stonewool insulation – an steam-permeable membrane attached to it’s outer side and then some good old fashioned bricks on the outside of the wall. All built after code and it should be good for 100 years at least… You do not build such a big house for 20-30 years, do you?!
I agree house wrap is super important. I think its safe to say that good old asphalt impregnated felt, 2 layers would’ve done a better job at keeping that house dry from rain. But it doesn’t even matter what they use, it looks like they didn’t flash that corner properly, even the best materials installed incorrectly can cause major damage. You sound like you had a cold Matt, feel better soon.
This is misleading. These materials are WRBs:Weather Resistant Barriers. key word in that is Resistant. They are not meant to be for “water proofing”. That is a completely different level of building that is still up to debate. That being said, I agree I would not use these house wraps as I have seen many failures due to Staples and penetrations. I’m also experiencing issues with Zip Wall sheathing with over driven nails that are in contact with open cell spray foam on the inside. It becomes a massive sponge with a water bridge from the outside. Huge design flaw. Thoughts?
its amazing who they let build houses lol. I got a house built in 1958. its true this real wood with a ton of airflow can take a decent beating from getting wet. But man I think the people that built my house was on crack lol. most things with the framing are way off. and there is 0 airtightness. they did a blower door test on my house and they said it was as if all the doors and windows were open lol.
I’m currently working on a project that the HVAC was oversized for the house. There’s mold everywhere. When we took the subfloor up I split a piece of it and found mold in between. It a total nightmare dealing with an insurance company. It’s a hurry up and wait, (protacol) they call it. Meanwhile the family is displaced and we haven’t worked a day on it in almost a month, simply because of “protacol”. So frustrating.
Hey Matt, I recently bought a home in Central FL. It’s a 1984 wood frame, covered with red brick. I recently discovered at the top of the wall, the approximately 1.5″ gap between the water barrier and the back side of the bricks is not sealed. Should I go ahead and seal that opening, or is there a specific reason it was left open?? Thanks
Hey Matt, Really enjoy and appreciate your articles and the amount of knowledge and information you impart regarding the science of building. Thank you for that. Question- -I always hear you say that you use a primer before applying a peel & stick type house wrap. What exactly is the type of primer you use/recommend ??
In my area it is so hard to convince the builders to do this. Also when going to the local building supply that still sells the materials that still causes problems for the home owner they don’t want to here about the new ideas that are now available. I do appreciate all of your comments on all the new and the improved materials out there on the market. Your are right about talking to the home owner to prevent the possible water damage in the future and do away with something else in the house and do the outside right the first time and use the proper water proofing first. Thanks again for this article.
Great article, lots a great information. My question is my new home is just now two years old in the Katy TX area with a typical Tyvek house wrap. What can I do to get my home up to this type of standard? Identify areas so little to no overhang, where I can add gutters. But then after that is it a mold test or what to get the water proofing and breath ability to much tighter tolerance? Or are we talking about ripping our sheet rock in those areas and updating from within? Really wish I found your website during my build process.
How can you build walls out of OSB? They contain so much glue that there is 0 breathability. What is the benefit of the breathable Delta membrane? I have also seen that walls and roofs are insulated with foam. Healthily and for the living climate simply only garbage. Use natural building materials again or do not build a house.
Ok these products are all fine, but under no circumstances should we be relying on them. Roofing, cladding, (siding for Americans) overhangs, flashings and gutters are what should be relied upon. If you’re relying on sticky goo or a wrap to keep water out you have a major problem. It’s the last line of defense. This house obviously suffers from bad design, and then it wasn’t flashed correctly. The water should never have gotten in to begin with. Had this been designed and built properly, the rubbish building wrap wouldn’t really be an issue.
Look I love Matt’s articles he does a good job BUT budget and time management aren’t a concern for him like it is for most. There’s nothing wrong with housewrap or even tar paper for that manor. It’s all about installing it properly. I’ve ripped up houses with tar paper 70 years old and the papers like new and I’ve ripped down houses with Zip sheathing that was rotting the studs from leaking. Houses need to breathe but be water proof in problem areas. Take everything Matt says with a grain of salt. If he was buying these products for his own home without sponsorship he would have diffrent opinions
What shouldn’t be sold in America is WOOD for building houses! We build houses out of water sensitive material (WOOD), then spend loads of money, time and effort trying to keep it dry with layers on layers of waterproofing material and then need to spend the rest of time just maintaining the waterproofing material, God forbid that a nail should get stuck in it! I can’t think of anything dumber really. There are better ways people, just look at Germany and how the place that invented Passive Houses builds.
My shop is in Charlotte NC and built it using as close to a Lstribrek 500 year house as possible; it is a shop after all. It sheds water like a champ, it requires very little energy to heat and cool it. The only thing missing right now is humidity control and fresh air. ERV w/ dehumidifier is next year. It’s a shop folks. Great vid guys!
Ok Matt, renovating a home in northern Ontario, code requires a Vapour Barrier on inside, starting from outside to in: I was thinking the breathable exterior house wrap over the exterior sheeting, than batt insulation with a thin layer of styrofoam on the inside than the vapour barrier and drywall. Your thoughts on this. So I am getting the extra insulation and stopping the studs from migrating the cold by using the styrofoam on the inside but still allowing the wall to equalize the moisture that does accumulate.
As a former Developer/contractor, You prove my ever consistent rant against the use of OSB on the exterior of ANY home that see’s a regular moisture gradient above 60%. You point out that the corner that got an infiltration behind the exterior cover looked like a 20 year old house and not a 6 month old house. 20 years is piss poor for longevity and shows the stark differences between quality builders and guys out to make a buck and ride the 1 year defect period. You said it all my friend, and I guarantee your prophesy will still come true in 20 years with all your new WRAPS. take time to ask yourself why a home built prior to 1976 fares better than one we throw together today.
That looks like Solar Board OSB, I am currently in the process of de-stoning/bricking my home because of continual water leaks through the facade and it’s eating away/rotting out the the Solar Board and causing black mold behind the walls/sheetrock; its being replaced with the zip system with tyvek over the top the zip
Why do most modern houses like these use cheap ass materials and methods, they used to be all brick or block n brick, I know they they cost more but this is taking the mick, you guys in the US build some nice looking houses but if they are made like this they are cheap n nasty imo. Are they more earthquake or bad weather resistant compared to brick, or is it just cost saving.
Rule #1 Never use OSB. Rule #2 if OSB is/has been used, your eves have to be 3X wider than normal, so if plans call for 12 inch eves, they have to be built 32 inches. Also have noticed modern builders are cheating at the eves, your rafters must run the full length of your roof. and stop plumbing your fascia boards flat…makes them rott, faster, Fascia boards should be faced at the angle of the rafter.. Thanks, new to your website, enjoy it.
Matt, you advocate two building practices which appear contradictory, at least to me. Firstly, you like big overhangs to keep rain off the siding. Secondly, you like continuous top quality waterproof, airtight vapour permeable house wrap from the roof to the wall so as to avoid having to try and waterproof penetrations and rafter joints etc. Can you sometime show us an example of combining the two. Continuous top quality waterproof, airtight vapour permeable house wrap with the supporting structure for overhangs.
From a viewpoint of best cost effectiveness/practicality: Wouldn’t it be logical to apply Alumaflash to the lower wall and Deltavent to the upper wall. This puts maximum protection where you need it most and still allows the wall to be vapor permeable–all while keeping costs down somewhat. For my build, I still want the inherent protection that 3′ eaves provide and they would complement the hybrid housewrap I am proposing. Does anyone see anything inherently wrong with this strategy? I am building pretty soon.
Hi there, I dont claim to know much about anything, and am learning SO much from you, but my question is why not use an oil based coat of paint on the OSB, or boiled linseed oil application on the OSB sheathing and then put your normal wrap on top? Im thinking just for extra protection, not as a substitution for best practices
Is there reason why most of the houses in your articles are without gutters? Is it something to do with the air quality? Having gutters to catch rain falling off the roof seems like a good idea if your trying to protect the house from water penetration, especially with little to no overhang. As a gutter contractor in the Chicago market, what am I missing?
I need to air seal an existing construction home from the interior, when I pulled the paneling down inside its bat, and then straight OSB then the exterior siding. Would it be best to create an air cavity all the way up to the existing gable vents near the roof by creating a continuous cavity with rigid foam, seal around that between the studs and then put the batting back in, as it’s in good shape Spray foam is out of my price range and so would new siding This building had a drop ceiling and batting resting on that for an attempted air seal from living space to attic, any fenestrations are foamed and come out the exterior siding under the 1ft overhang all around for protection from rain and the like. I’m really racking my brain trying to improve this building
After perusal some of your articles that highlight so many problems with different products and materials, I have the idea that the “best” way to construct a house exterior is to TIG-weld sheets of 24 or 26ga stainless steel across the entire house. Costs more? Yes. But the house will still be dry and sound in 500 years.
Once upon a time in a wet, cold environment I lived in a $30 nylon child’s play tent. It taught me every thing I needed to know about managing water. First she’d as much as possible. Second, lead water away from critical failure zones. Third ensure the dwelling breathes actively. Fourth keep your insulation dry. Given that that tent was cheap it didn’t even have zipped door flap so orientating it correctly in regards to prevailing weather was also critical. Many years later, I replaced it with a proper Goretex Mountaineering tent, that although technically more waterproof, and vapour permeable was actually harder to keep dry. Why? Because in those early Goretex tents welded seams hadn’t been invented and every seam became a capillary leak- so I re-stitched those seams by hand in a highway lay-by with a heavy pure cotton thread and staked the thread ends away from the tent to suck the water away. These days I own an old plywood, solid exterior walled home built in the 1970s. I solved a slight leak under the ageing single glazed aluminium joinery, facing the prevailing hard driven rain by crafting exterior PVC curtains. No more leak, and the house is 3°C warmer in winter. The curtains are only loosely fitted and thus breathe fully. As an added bonus, the exterior paint is no longer suffering dust corrosion beneath the curtains. And LoL I still live in a tent.
I would rather build a house using thermal insulation bricks (e.g. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick#/media/File:Porotherm_style_clay_block_brick_angle_1.jpg ) and not some sort of cardboard with a raincoat, but do it as you like… But yes, if you use OSB or anything else on wooden framing, then for example the Dörken “raincoat” is essential.
Its funny. When the first cars were built they painted the metal to protect the metal from rust. Makes sense. Then we started putting wax over the paint and primer under the paint to protect the paint. Then they started selling car tarps to protect the wax and the paint. Whats next, another layer of something, maybe nanotechnology to bead water off the tarps that protect the wax that protects the paint that protects the metal? Lmfao do you see where this is going? Before you know it, and mark my words, there will be something coming out to protect the vinyl siding that protects the vapor barrier, that protects the sheathing, that protects the studs, that protects the insulation. Whats next? A damn house cover? Do we need to start wrapping our houses everyday that protect us from the elements to protect them from the elements? Then there will be a spray that requires an additive to be sprayed on shingles and siding to protect the shingles and siding from the elements that the shingles and siding protect us from. Enough is enough. People in africa make mud huts out of cow shit that are still around to this day. They just rebuilt or add more mud as necessary. Its starting to get ridiculous dont you think? Edit: and by the way. There are many houses still standing, still functional, and still lived in that were built over 100 years ago without any of this new age code bearing shit. Just think about that for a minute. Like really think about it. Edit again: are you going to mop alumicoat over the alumiflash to protect the alumiflash from any possible mist that gets in?
We had a 4800 sq ft house built 13 years ago DFW area. I paid extra for Tyvek housewrap. A fair amount of OSB was used in the corners for structural stiffening. Not primed but covered with Tyvek and those staple fasteners. This winter I have been smelling a sweet sickly smell and trying to figure out what it is. Could be sewer gas from a settled pipe or could be mold. From your experience with water problems causing mold, do you know if mold smell has a sweet (but sickly sweet) smell?
Hmmm… I think the house needs to breath for a chance to ‘dry’ out if there was a tiny leak. My other thought of membrane is ‘in gassing’ your own home from all the installed matreieals used in home construction. Water proofing/resistance is important but there is a fine balance for healthy living. Even with active fresh air intake ventilation, it’s still debatable. Build it right is more important than ultra insulative protection energy conservation.
He has good advice but I really wish he would stop taking sponsorship money to promote building products. That just brings his credibility into question and just shouldn’t be necessary when he can make plenty of income from just monetizing his YouTube articles. There are some companies products that he used to be more critical of before they started paying him. It just makes his motivations more questionable.